PARALYMPIC star Anne Dunham was one of the guests when a new training centre for future equestrians was opened at Braydon.

The Hoof Club headquarters at Rein and Shine was built from a disused farm shed with the help of nearly £70,000 in National Lottery funding.

North Wiltshire MP James Gray, who is president of the Association of British Riding Schools and Royal Wootton Bassett Mayor Mary Champion were also at the ceremony on Friday.

The building will be used as a classroom and a base for the club, a community interest company set up with the aim of helping people to learn about the care of horses as well as how to ride.

“It facilitates a huge expansion of our equestrian training programmes,” said Johanna McDonald, who runs the establishment with husband John.

The yard already has one classroom but with an average of seven groups a day using the yard at weekends and school pupils taking part in its special educational needs programme during the week, there has been pressure on space.

“It is very clear the legacy of the Olympics is that people do want to take up riding and they want to take up learning about horses,” said Johanna.

Children today wanted better facilities. Getting people off the sofa to try sport was a challenge and riding was competing against the computer age.

But with the right facilities pupils did not have to remain outside in the elements when learning about the animals they rode.

Hoof Club provides riding lessons but also teaches welfare skills recognised by the British Horse Society like stable management, horse anatomy, foot structure and equine digestive systems. The aim is to ensure they have the ability to look after a horse or pony properly. It also offers the opportunity for members to learn show jumping and dressage up to elementary level.

The opening of the building means the business can take a huge step forward and go for accreditation to teach Btec equine courses. “If we didn’t have this classroom we wouldn’t be able to apply,” said Johanna.

The lottery funding came through Sport England, which has invested more than £100 million into 1,920 projects around the country over the past eight years.

The yard at Buryhill Farm also has a pioneering scheme that works with special schools in the area to help children with complex learning difficulties and behavioural problems to learn the same skills. Some of the youngsters have suffered domestic violence have suffered sexual abuse, causing emotional issues.

For more information about the scheme is available online at reinandshine.co.uk